A Moment
by Trebleclef2
Summary: Sometimes people say hurtful things in the heat of the moment. One can never underestimate the power of a few hasty words... but it is what happens afterwards that really matters. Pre The Change in the Game.
1. The Argument

The Argument

"_Spiteful words can hurt your feelings but silence breaks your heart."_ - Anon

Brennan sat on the bench_, their bench_ by the Reflecting Pool. She always came here to think, to clear her mind and to assess her life as objectively as she could. And reflect she did, thinking of everything that happened that week. It had been a long one, to say the least. Firstly her alarm didn't go off and she was late for work - a bad start to any day. Then there was that argument with Booth. And then she got kidnapped by Myers, the main suspect in her and Booth's latest case and things had suddenly gotten a lot worse really quickly.

Drinking in a rare bit of Washington sunshine, she remembered the drive to the crime scene in his car. He was in a bad mood, probably because Rebecca took Parker to New York for the weekend with her new boyfriend when it was Booth's weekend to have him. Booth loved his son, and it made him angry to be denied spending his allotted time with him.

She got in and asked to be allowed drive, as per usual. He denied her again, also as normal, but this time it was rougher.

"No Bones, you can't, okay? How does somebody as smart as you have to be told the same thing again and again to get it into your thick skull?"

Brennan couldn't help but feel hurt by the sharpness in his harsh words. "You know that bone diameter has nothing to do with the rate at which the brain absorbs things", she told him. Booth rolled his eyes.

"I am trying to forgive your unpleasant demeanour because I know that you are upset about Parker," she continued, undeterred. "However, I think you should try to be more supportive of Rebecca's efforts to let her partner and Parker get to know each other."

Instantly Booth's face darkened and his voice became dangerously low. "Don't you ever give me advice about how to raise my kid again, you hear me? You don't know anything about family," he snarled.

A hard lump formed in Brennan's throat as she bitterly retorted "I know that if you're as controlling of Parker as you are of me he'll be delighted to be in New York!"

She regretted those words as soon as she said them. Booths face turned to stone as he stared blankly out the windscreen. She had crossed the line. The rest of the journey passed in tense silence with neither partner speaking- one impassive, one regretful. 'What have I done?' thought Brennan silently.


	2. The Silence

**Author's Note: I realised I forgot to add one in the last chapter. Thanks to everyone who read, favourited, alerted or especially reviewed this story, ye are the best. Also I just realised a major mistake in my last chapter, I had set it on a beech in Washington DC, which of course does not exist. My most sinciere apologies, I have amended that error. ****This chapter is longer, and there's one more to follow. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bones, it is the creation of Hart Hanson and some other people who are not me.**

The Silence

Brennan huddled in the corner of her damp, dark cell, hands and feet bound, gag over her mouth. Myers had left around two hours previously and the only sound she could hear was her own shaky, shallow breaths. Not that she was complaining. Myers had gone to get her "a special present" as he had called it. Whatever it was Brennan was sure she wouldn't like it much.

She listened for the sound of footsteps down the passageway. Silence. She was still alone.

She felt her side gingerly with the tips of her fingertips and couldn't contain a small gasp that escaped through the gag as she touched the tender, grazed flesh. It must have happened earlier. Temperance Brennan had of course not been captured without a fight. She had waited until he bent down to bind her ankles with rope when she thrust up her bound wrists to hit him square on the nose. Obviously an experienced kidnapper though, he had her quickly restrained again.

It had hardly been an even match- he with the gun and she bound, but she still felt disappointed with herself, even if the disappointment only served as a distraction from her surroundings and the dire situation she found herself in.

However as the temperature fell steadily, degree by degree, and the shadows of dusk crept along the floor of her prison, she found herself able to concentrate on little else. There were no blankets or any other source of warmth in the cell and her thin mac did little to reduce the shivers that were convulsing through her body.

She wondered how long it would be before anyone realised she was missing. Tomorrow morning, probably; she never was never late for work, and they would wonder she was. This evening they would presume she had gone to the book signing she had asked time off for. Booth sometimes accompanied her to those things, but the last few days… she wasn't sure he'd even notice she was gone.

The harsh words that had passed between them during that car journey had stood solid as a brick wall between them all week. They didn't speak, he keeping his face set and stony, she looking sullen and cold. She found excuses to stay in the lab while he went out on the field. Though she tried half-heartedly, she couldn't break this new barrier of silence and unspoken hurt that had grown between them down. She wasn't even sure she wanted to.

Booth – the most kind hearted and compassionate person she knew – had reminded her that she was essentially alone in life. She had spent most of her years with no family and no real friends, and she used to be okay with that. She would have logically admitted that he was right – she had no knowledge of that area.

But since Booth came into her life, along with Angela and the rest of the team at the Jeffersonian, she thought that that had changed. Booth was her partner – more than that, he was her best friend. They were the glue, the centre, which held the rest of the team together. She had begun to think of them as one happy, albeit strange, family.

Booth's comment had reminded her of just how wrong this delusion was. She had nothing real to base her knowledge on, none of the real, solid _proof_ her life had revolved around for so long. She was wrong to offer him advice, she knew that. But still his words stung and she felt betrayed and upset. _How irrational_, she scolded herself.

However the case may be, she knew one fact for certain – she missed Booth and the way they used to be. She missed their chats, his hand on the small of her back, his assuring presence, his comforting masculine smell. She missed his guy hugs. _I could really do with one of those right now, _she thought wryly, pulling her clothing tighter around her with effort as she struggled to move her stiff limbs. Myers still hadn't come back.

She knew she should be moving around, trying to raise her core body temperature, but she was so exhausted, unable to move, her body frozen in its hunched position. The January air was so cold. She felt her pulse slowing down gradually. She hadn't had anything to eat since lunch, but her hunger was the least of her worries. She slowly gave way to the sleep the was threatening to overwhelm her, but in those last moments of consciousness, she promised to Booth's God, the Universe, or whoever was listening (although she knew deep down there was no one there) that if she made it through this, if _he_ or anyone else came for her she would repair what was broken between them. She would make it right, and they could go on the way they always had – Booth and Bones, the centre of the team, the glue that held it all together. The centre must hold.

"Booth, please come," she croaked into the empty air. And then there was nothing.

_It was later, much later when Myers returned with the knife – sharpened with serrated edges and a distinctive curve at the end. He was sharpening it in the dark kitchen, the metal glinting dangerously. The metallic sound reverberated throughout the house. He finally finished making the agonising sound and stood admiring his handiwork when suddenly; quite a different sound broke through the silence. _

_It was the sound of the door being kicked violently inward with such force that the wood splintered. Cries of "FBI!" echoed in the large hallway and there was the Myers heard many pairs of agents' feet move throughout the building. One found him and the knife clattered as it hit the ground, and in that moment, Myers saw the eyes of a madman staring into his own. Here was a man that could kill him in an instant without mercy, without hesitation. Here stood a man with nothing to lose; rifle cocked and pointed at his head._

_In his trance of shock Myers saw a bright red belt buckle gleaming on his belt, its colour unnatural amidst the grey, dreary tones of the dilapidated house. This one moment was frozen in time; a nanosecond seemed like an hour, neither moving. He could barely discern the lettering in the dim light. _Cocky_? he wondered. But then the moment was over – another agent entered and he sprinted out of the room, just as a voice came from below, calling urgently "Found her!". Myers was led out of the house in handcuffs and a wail of an ambulance could cut through the cold night air._


	3. The Moment

**Author's Note: Thank you for the great response to this story! Reviews make my day! :) This is the last chapter, thank you for reading! PS: Some of you commented that I was laying all the blame on Brennan and I looked back and totally agreed! I tried to rectify that in this chapter... thanks a million guys!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bones.**

The Moment

"_The difference between friendship and love is how much you can hurt each other" – _Ashleigh Brilliant

And so it ended up with Brennan sitting on the bench three days later, having just been released from hospital that morning after being treated for pneumonia. She was glad to be out – the winter vomiting bug was rampant throughout the place, and as a result of that she had been permitted no visitors.

She drew her coat more firmly around her. It was still very cold. She knew she should be at home but she had insisted that Angela dropped her off here after collecting her from the hospital. She needed some time to think, and this place was always strangely comforting to her.

She had been sitting there for some time when she heard the crunch of boots on the path as someone approached her. She looked up it was him.

"Booth," she said, standing up abruptly. His face was impassive and there were dark circles under his eyes, she noticed. He looked awful, but she was still glad to see him. She remembered her promise back in her awful prison. He meant so much to her; she had been so lonely since their argument.

When he reached her he sat down beside her, still not looking at her. She sat down again hesitantly beside him, close enough that she could hear his breathing, but far enough away that she was not touching him. "Booth I-" she began, but he cut her off, turning to her, finally his tortured eyes meeting hers.

"Bones, I have to apologise for the other day. What I said is absolutely not true. Of course you have a family – you have Max and Russ as your normal conventional family. But as I said before, there's more than one type of family."

Bones felt tears come to her eyes as he said this, remembering. She brushed them away angrily but Booth grabbed her hand and continued in earnest.

"We're your family too Bones, me and Angela and all the squints at the Jeffersonian – we all care about you, and let me tell you, we were all worried sick-" He stopped suddenly and she heard his breath hitch before he continued. "We were so worried when I called around to your apartment that evening and you weren't there. You hadn't turned up for your book signing either – I called."

Brennan shivered as she remembered where she was and she felt him move closer to her. Still a few obstinate tears leaked from the corner of her eyes.

"How did you find me?" she asked quietly. "I thought I was going to be there for a long time Booth, that nobody was going to miss me or look for me."

The strained look she had seen earlier came back into his face and he dropped her hand again. "Bones, how can you even say that? Ever since we met six years ago I've cared deeply about you and I know that you feel the same about me. We're friends, _partners, _and we'll nothing will ever change that. I'm sorry about what I said, but I would never give up, never stop searching for you, because I know you'd do the same for me. And neither did anyone else from the Jeffersonian. It was Hodgins that figured it out in the end, good old Hodgins." He smiled and put his arm around her. She sank gladly into his warm embrace.

"When they found you there on the floor of that cell, unconscious, I was never so angry in my entire life, Bones. I thought you were…" he trailed off, squeezing her a little tighter. "And then they wouldn't let me ride in the ambulance with you, or visit, and I was so scared. I kept thinking of the awful thing I'd said in the car-"

"Booth," she interrupted gently, raising her head so she could meet his eyes. "It's okay. All I could think about in Myer's cellar was about you and how much you mean to me. You showed me the importance of friendship and people and so much more. I missed you so much, missed the way we were – our ridiculous talks, making fun of your socks, missed you always looking out for me, knowing that I could rely on you no matter what. All I knew was that I would do whatever it took to regain your trust and friendship.

"And I'm sorry for what I said about Parker – you're a brilliant father, Booth, and I'm sure there's no other place in the world he'd rather be than here with you."

"Thanks Bones," Booth replied huskily. "And you were right – Rebecca's boyfriend is going to be part of Parker's life whether I like it or not… it's only right that they get to know each other. It was cruel of Rebecca to take him last weekend but at least I've got you, Bones."

"Always," she replied, gazing right into his sincere brown eyes and getting lost momentarily in their chocolate depths. A long moment passed between them as they sat like this, each transfixed by the other.

All of a sudden Booth caressed her cheek lovingly and took her hand again.

"Coffee, Bones?" he asked cheerfully and stood up.

She smiled and followed suit. "Coffee sounds great, Booth," she replied.

"And pie?" he suggested hopefully.

"No pie Booth, you know I don't like pie!" she accused him with a grin and hit him on the arm playfully and snuggled into his side, glad of the warmth or his hand holding hers, and knowing that this was the way it was supposed to be, the complete happiness she felt in this moment.

_Jealous onlookers wondered what those two had done to deserve such happiness as they the crimefighting duo were seen walking away hand in hand, smiling and laughing, their shoulders touching, each obviously having absolute trust in the other. The man held the door open for the woman as they entered the Royal Diner._

_In a shiny red and white mini around the corner an attractive dark-haired woman grinned triumphantly at her husband, who, still in a dark blue lab coat, was looking rather bemused at his wife's amazing matchmaking talents. "Mission accomplished," she remarked happily, and he turned the car around, speeding away in the direction of the Jeffersonian._

**Hope you enjoyed, I know I liked writing it. Please review :)**


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